If you go
Peach State Aerodrome
349 Jonathan’s Roost Road, Williamson.
770-467-9490; www.peachstateaero.com
Candler Field Museum
Free admission; donations welcome.
Barnstormer’s Grill
770-227-9989; www.barnstormersgrill.com
Hours for the museum and grill: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday
Biplane rides
By appointment: 770-467-9490
Long before Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport became the busiest airport in the world, it started off small — so small that it was just a grass field and a few hangars. Called Candler Field in the early 1920s, the property south of the city wasn’t even intended to be an airfield — it was designed for auto racing.
There are few, if any, of those roots on display at the airport today. But drive about 40 miles south, and aviation and history buffs can step back into the era when biplanes and grass landing strips were as advanced as the technology got.
If the Peach State Aerodrome, tucked away in the hamlet of Williamson, looks a lot like the original Candler Field, that’s because it’s owner hopes to re-create it, right down to the old art deco terminal. Its main hangar is already up, marked by an antique “American Airways” sign, and sits between two grass runways where a variety of antique planes take off and land. Surrounded by fields, forests and a smattering of houses, the aerodrome’s 125 acres look much like the faded photographs and prints of Candler Field that adorn the hangar’s lobby.
That hangar houses the Candler Field Museum, dedicated to remembering the first Atlanta airport as it was in the two decades before World War II. The museum is the project of Ron Alexander, a retired Delta Air Lines pilot who spent 34 years in the cockpit and now lives in nearby Brooks. He knew about the existence of the remote airfield long before he became its owner in 2005.
“This property has been a private airfield since 1967,” Alexander said. “They used to operate gliders here, but it evolved into a place for antique planes.”
Alexander built the main hangar in 2008 and had no trouble finding people with antique aircraft willing to show them off there. But he wanted more than just a museum for old planes.
“I wanted to have the history of the original Atlanta airport — Candler Field reinvented,” he said. “That was the inspiration. When you drive in and see nothing around here, you think, ‘What is all this?’ But when you come in and realize it’s Candler Field, you get a different feeling.”
The main hangar lent itself to expansion, so meeting rooms, workshops and a restaurant were added. A conference room is lined with shelves packed with manuals and books about aircraft, including a few that date to the early 1900s. The Barnstormer’s Grill, opened daily except Mondays, is decked out with an array of airplane photos, artifacts and toy planes hanging from the ceiling. Picture windows along one side of the room provide clear views of the landing area just beyond the restaurant’s patio.
But the main attraction is the center of the hangar, where the antique craft are housed. The showpiece is a 1917 Curtiss Jenny that has been slowly restored over the past seven years and is one of only a handful that are still flying. Visitors can step up alongside the blue and silver body and get a close-up look at the open-air cockpit and passenger seat. Also on display is the bright red Waco YMF-5 that can be reserved for 20-minute flights over the local countryside. The front passenger section has room enough for two to enjoy the rush of flying in the open air.
Along with the planes are antique roadsters, including a 1909 Sears Roebuck Motor Buggy and a 1928 Model A. Mixed in with the transportation artifacts are period pieces, including an 1898 penny-farthing bicycle.
But Alexander’s idea for the aerodrome goes far beyond being a resting place for old aircraft. A second hangar under construction will resemble a 1925 structure from Candler Field and will serve much the same purpose as a workshop for airplane repair and restoration. There, a number of former Delta mechanics and pilots who live in the area teach teens in the Candler Field Flying Club about the nuts and bolts of flying.
“The idea is to draw more youth into aviation,” Alexander said. “We teach young people to fly but also restore planes for compensation. Every 10 hours a young person does on a project — be it restoring a plane, cutting the grass or helping out in the museum — earns them one hour of flying time. It’s also our way to get young people interested in aviation careers and to address the upcoming shortage of aircraft maintenance technicians and pilots.”
About 1,000 people a week trek to the museum and restaurant. In recent years, it’s enjoyed the attention of local film crews who have leased planes and cars for productions in the Atlanta area. Alexander plans to capitalize on the attention by continuing to add to the property, eventually re-establishing a life-size model of Atlanta’s aviation roots.
